The importance of preparing for, responding to and managing emergencies should not be underestimated.

The oil and gas sector is a high-risk industry in anyone's estimation - working with high- pressures, volatile liquids, flammable and toxic gases, heavy equipment in remote and harsh conditions, and often hundreds of miles away from emergency services. It is vitally important therefore to understand the significance of emergency preparation and take steps to ensure operators have effective response arrangements in place should the worst happen. It is crucial that the oil and gas industry, more so than most industries, has a clear and tested strategy, so that any incident offshore is managed as effectively and safely as possible.

To adopt a comprehensive approach in dealing with emergency incidents in harsh and remote offshore environments, there are a number of fundamental areas operators should consider.

Assessing the risk

By executing a planning process, people can anticipate risks before they turn into disasters and put in place operational solutions to prevent the worst from happening.

At the root of the planning process is the assessment of risk and identification for what actually needs to be prepared. With detailed and appropriate risk assessments that identify all scenarios that could seriously impact operations, an organization can evaluate its potential problems; tackle the factors that might trigger a crisis scenario; design and implement safety systems; and prepare the workforce to minimize the impact on people, infrastructure and the environment.

Emergency response plans must be based on scenarios clearly linked to the risks. There must also be clear linkage between risk management and emergency response, with relevant experts working closely to ensure this happens. Only then can the organization, training and competency of individuals fulfilling key roles be properly addressed.

Prepare plans

Oil and gas operators must have procedures that satisfy legal and statutory requirements. In developing procedures, it is essential that emergency response planners consider how to respond to emergency situations; how the emergency services interface with the organization; community relations, including media, stakeholders and relatives; and how the company should respond to incidents.

Emergency response planners also need to consider business continuity scenarios and tie them into the emergency response arrangements. Other things that need to be considered include insured requirements such as damage to property and third parties, plus injuries or worse to employees or others. The significant number of unseen and often uninsured risks also need to be considered, for example, clear-up costs, legal costs, public relations expenses, man-hours lost in working through the investigation, and loss of business continuity and assets.

Organize resources/training

Comprehensive planning only provides the foundations for an effective response. Further to this, organizations must ensure the necessary physical resources and people are available to support the plan. Training needs must be properly analyzed, and effective training programs that build confidence and competence must be run. Exercises should be run as part of the training program to allow facilities and equipment to be realistically tested and used as well as for people to practice.

It is essential to ensure key people like offshore installation managers or those fulfilling mission-critical roles are competent. Standards should be identified and used when running training for these individuals, and a form of assessment must be included. These standards can be built for any individual organization or can be adopted from an industry body. Separate evaluation exercises should also be run to test the procedures, facilities and communications with external agencies.

Managing the environment

No emergency response plan for operating in a harsh environment is complete without assessment and preparation for environmental risks, whether pollution of the sea or damage to local onshore communities. Public perception plays a significant role in the way pollution is handled; dispersants like detergent might look responsible and effective, but leaving nature to take its course and disperse light oil naturally is often the most environmentally sensitive response. Environmental impact should be an important factor in an organization's plan, and the clean-up processes should be thorough, immediate and publicly acceptable.

All these factors should be taken into account and scenarios used to build plans needed to be borne out of intrinsic and extrinsic risk. Extrinsic risk is particularly relevant to working in remote locations. From extreme weather in Kazakhstan and rebels in Angola to unrest in Nigeria, insurgency in Iraq, the outbreak of a serious infectious disease such as Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome or political instability in Indonesia, all scenarios should be built into the emergency response arrangements.

The risks associated with working in some global locations are high. In certain circumstances, consequences of an incident could be severe even with well-made emergency response plans. However, through following the comprehensive process described, these risks are fully appreciated as early as possible, and the necessary actions are taken to ensure they are kept as low as reasonably practical and, should an incident occur, the impact is also kept to a minimum.

Process and planning have progressed significantly during the years since the Piper Alpha disaster, and companies in the North Sea are better prepared to deal with every eventuality. Each offshore oil and gas installation now has a personalized safety case with detailed emergency response plans, a comprehensive safety infrastructure offshore and a trained workforce whose prime responsibility is safety. The sector now represents industry best practice in the United Kingdom for emergency planning, preparedness and response.

Much of the improvement can be contributed to the introduction of a highly regulated environment. The introduction of Design Control Regulations along with Prevention of Fire Explosion and Emergency Response Regulations for offshore, and the Control of Major Accident Hazard regulations for onshore, have all been embraced by the oil and gas industry. Improvement is also partly because of the empowerment of the offshore installation manager on a production platform, who now has the authority to shut down oil and gas production. Combined with advancements in global positioning and communications systems since 1988, at no point would an offshore installation with an emergency situation be out of touch with the mainland, emergency services or its parent company and its support.

To further improve response to incidents offshore, Rubicon Response recently launched its integrated Emergency Response Service Centre (ERSC). It is the first of its kind in the UK Continental Shelf (UKCS) and the first point of contact for a number of North Sea installations (including all of Petrofac's UKCS operations) providing them with an immediate and effective response in emergency situations. The design of the ERSC is based on the need to work effectively with the emergency services, resilience, the use of best practice and regulatory expectations. The facility incorporates robust technology supported by a fully qualified, highly experienced and dedicated team of responders.

The ERSC is in Marine House, which also houses the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA). Within the center, a dedicated position has been assigned to the police to assist in the task of relative response and notifications. In addition, a dedicated facility next to the MCA control room has also been allocated to and approved by the secretary of state representative (SOSREP), allowing easy communication and coordination between the duty holder, SOSREP and the MCA in the event of a major oil spill. Close liaison with the MCA and other emergency services ensures the ERSC effectively facilitates a cohesive response.

Having gone live in early March, the ERSC is held at a constant state of readiness and is already providing service to customers and improving safety in the North Sea.

The ERSC will most likely become a blueprint for the future of emergency response management in key oil and gas provinces across the globe. The industry is today more prepared for the issues that can be faced in harsh, remote environments and is keeping pace with and adapting to ever-changing world, regional and country events. With clearly mapped-out processes for protecting people, the environment, infrastructure and business, all married into one system, the aim is to build resilience and recover to a state of normalcy as quickly as possible. Facilities like the ERSC should play a major role globally in the future of the oil and gas industry. The importance of preparing for, responding to and managing emergencies cannot be underestimated. The launch of the ERSC and the interest it has generated in the UKCS as well as the seriousness with which North Sea operators treat safety is encouraging. Our challenge is to help facilitate such an approach to emergency response globally.